• Voto:
Gli Hoosiers sono un trio londinese fondato nel 2003 e composto da Irwin Sparkes, Martin Skarendahl ed Alphonso Sharland.
Forti delle seicentomila copie sin'ora smerciate solo in Gran Bretagna dell'esordio "The Trick To Life", stanno ottenendo visibilità pure qua da noi con due singoletti come "Worried About Ray", ironico e divertente scorcio catchy pop, e "Goodbye Mr. A", saltellante mini-inno indie rock accompagnato da un videoclip assai riuscito e divertente (il pezzo è oltretutto incluso nella soundtrack del popolare videogame "Fifa ?08"). Fra le loro influenze citano The Cure, Jeff Buckley, The Flaming Lips ed XTC.
Gli Hoosiers, comunque, sono anche altro: "The Trick To Life" è un esordio divertente, ben suonato, ammiccante quanto basta e ricco di pennellate melodiche notevoli, a partire dalla succitata "Worried About Ray", posta furbescamente in apertura d'opera. Il terzo singolo "Worst Case Scenario" segue più o meno il canovaccio dei primi due estratti (così come la titletrack), arricchendosi però di claphands ed effetti vari che rendono ancor più scalcinato l'intero quadro.
I pezzi più lenti ed introspettivi, invece, sono la nota dolente dell'album, forse poco curati e penalizzati da un uso eccessivo del falsetto da parte del frontman Sparkes (si sentano "Run Rabbit Run" o "Clinging On For Life"). "A Sadness Runs Through Him", al contrario, risulta maggiormente azzeccata, forse per il suo tipico andamento à la Travis che la rende particolare ed unica nell'intero lavoro, mentre "Cops And Robbers" è candidata a divenire l'ennesima smash-hit della band, visto che anch'essa sarà inserita in un videogame (visto l'argomento, stavolta si tratterà di "GTA 4"). Belle ed evocative le atmosfere di "Everything Goes Dark", che costruisce la sua melodia base su di un delicato ed armonico arpeggio, per poi crescere sino ad un finale dominato da un intreccio di cori, chitarra ed archi.
Riguardo al nome, Alphonso spiega: "Un Hoosier è un nativo dell'Indiana, la principale regione produttrice di grano del mid west americano, il luogo in cui ci trovavamo quando abbiamo ritrovato noi stessi. Molti Hoosiers sostengono che l'appellativo deriva da Samuel Hoosier: nel 1825 erano stati soprannominati "Hoosiers Men" per le loro doti di coraggio e laboriosità. Tuttavia, scavando un po' più a fondo, si scopre che il nome è la distorsione della traduzione francese di "sfaccendato e sobillatore" e designa un gruppo di uomini dalla dubbia moralità. L'ambiguità delle sue origini ci affascinava, anche se probabilmente a noi meglio si addice la seconda definizione".
Di bands sparite dopo uno/due/tre albums, purtoppo, se ne sono sentite tante, specialmente in terra d'Albione. Vedremo se questi Hoosiers saranno una delle poche eccezioni.
Tracce chiave: "A Sadness Runs Through Him", "Cops And Robbers", "Everything Goes Dark"
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Worried About Ray (02:48)
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm worried about the future holds, the future holds
I'm starting to worry about Ray
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm worried about the future holds, the future holds
I'm seriously worried about Ray
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm treading on my tippy toes, my tippy toes
I'm starting to worry about Ray
Truth be told, the truth be told
I'm treading on my tippy toes, my tippy toes
I'm painfully so worried about Ray
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
They say the future's out to get you
You know that I won't let you fall
The future's out to get you
The future's out to get you oh
The future's out to get you
The future's out to get you oh
The truth be told, the truth be told
I'm worried what the future holds, the future holds
I'm so tired of being worried about Ray
04 Goodbye Mr A (04:26)
There's a hole in your logic
You who know all the answers, oh oh oh oh
You can sigh and say magic
And expect me to buy it
Goodbye Mr A
You promised you would love us
But you knew too much
Goodbye Mr A
You had all the answers
But no human touch
If life is subtraction
Your number is up
Your love is a fraction
It's not adding up
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
So busy showing me where I'm wrong
You forgot to switch your feelings on, oh oh oh oh
So so superior, are you not?
You love a little bit but you forgot
Goodbye Mr A
You promised you would love us
But you knew too much
Goodbye Mr A
You had all the answers
But no human touch
If life is subtraction
Your number is up
Your love is a fraction
It's not adding up
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Goodbye Mr A
Goodbye Mr A
Goodbye Mr A
The world was full of wonder
'Til you opened my eyes
Goodbye Mr A
Wish you hadn't blown my mind
And killed the suprise
Goodbye Mr A
You promised you would love us
But you knew to much
Goodbye Mr A
You had all the answers
But no human touch
If life is subtraction
Your number is up
Your love is a fraction
It's not adding up
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
05 A Sadness Runs Through Him (03:13)
People are puppets, held together with string.
There's a beautiful sadness that runs through him,
as he asked me to pray to the god he doesn't believe in.
Time and again boys are raised to be men:
impatient they start, fearful at end.
But here was a man mourning tomorrow.
He drank, but finally drown in his sorrow.
He could not break surface tension.
He looked in the wrong place for redemption.
Don't look at me with those eyes;
i tried to anaethatise: turn back the time that drew him.
But he couldn't be saved:
a sadness runs through him, through him.
Time and again boys are raised to be men:
impatient they start, fearful at end.
But here was a man mourning tomorrow,
who drank, but finally drown in his sorrow
He could not break surface tension.
He looked in the wrong place for redemption.
Don't look at me with those eyes;
i tried to anaethetise;
turn back the time that drew him.
But he couldn't be saved:
a sadness runs through him, through him.
Don't look...Don't look...Don't...Don't
Don't look at me with those eyes;
i tried to unheave the ties:
turn back the time that drew him.
But he couldn't be saved, no,
he couldn't be saved: sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him,
sadness runs through him
07 Cops and Robbers (03:58)
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
We're at a revolution
And we're baying for your blood
We're laying down the law
And your name's mud
You'd like to be a member of the human race
You want to be a good boy
But you couldn't stand the taste
Blame Simon
Because he said
You've got two lives down
And one life left
Blame Simon
Because he said
You could think better with a hole in your head
You could think better with a hole in your head
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
Catch a revolution
Now your waging war again
Marching on the spot when you should have made amends
Cause you say you fight for us
Cross your heart and hope to die
You're the bully in the playground and we'll hang you out to dry
Blame Simon
Because he said
You've got two lives down
And one life left
Blame Simon
Because he said
You could think better with a hole in your head
You could think better with a hole in your head
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
But play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
Line them up against a wall and shoot them all
Oh oh oh
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
Play cops and robbers
Cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
When we catch a criminal
There's nothing we can do
Play cops and robbers
If we catch a criminal
There's nothing you or I can do
Line them up against a wall I'll get a gun and shoot them all
Carico i commenti... con calma
